if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. it helps to have people around you... they say, you're much bigger than this. and you are. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. hi, everyone. i'm tamron hall. following breaking news. will republicans follow through on a threat to hold up the brennan nomination to be the new cia director?

in the next 30 minutes they're expected to vote on the brennan nomination but senators john mccain and lindsay graham are vowing to, quote, stop the nomination in the full senate unless they receive more information from the white house on the attacks in mbenbenghazi. >> john and i are hell bent on making sure the american people understand this debacle called benghazi. >> i have had questions, written questions for mr. brennan for nearly three weeks now. we have not received a single answer. i think we deserve an answer and i have some questions about torture. >> i'm not going to vote on a new cia director until i find out what the cia did in benghazi. >> joining me now, democratic strategist chris kofonis and carrie brown. part of the laundry list that they say have been unanswered is they want to know why on the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in american

history, that is quote from their letter, after multiple attacks on the u.s. and western interests in libya and rising insecurity in countries across the middle east, u.s. military units and assets in the region were not ready to respond in a timely fashion. that's one on a long list from the senators here of questions they say they have not had answered and here we are again with a nomination that could be delayed even further. >> yeah. it is not clear whether what the administration provided on benghazi is enough for these senators to stand down and say -- and pull back from what you showed graham saying he's hell bent on answers or else he won't move forward with a confirmation. it is unclear yet whether it's enough. certainly on the drone memos, it would seem to be enough to get the democrats who have said that they wanted to see those memos. we still haven't heard for sure but this is clearly an attempt by the administration to push along brennan's confirmation.

>> chris, you know, it's interesting. carrie said is it enough? that question after the chuck hagel situation where it turns in to a loss for republicans, because after all the time spent that could have perhaps been focused on other issues, the nomination went through, when is it ever going to be enough with benghazi for these three senators? >> i don't think it's ever going to be enough. the part i would say that's perplexing is so senator kerry when he was confirmed as secretary of state did not face these kind of questions. >> exactly. >> when he was going to be secretary of state. they hit, you know, senator hagel very hard on benghazi and then they confirmed him and now it's -- you know, john brennan's turn. now it's kind of a -- >> you cannot forget then secretary of state hillary clinton as well testified. there's been a laundry list of people and i think fairly put, there have been and are legitimate questions here but this ongoing threat of holding up nominations for individuals,

people thought brennan would take heat on enhanced interrogation tech nears, ie torture according to some opposed to what happened in libya. something he had nothing to do with as well as chuck hagel. >> yeah. listen. i think it's fine to advise and consent. that's the senate's role. >> right. >> but for senator mccain and the others, it's become more about irritate and obstruct and some point it becomes a dangerous situation when you have a serious number of threats the country's facing, whether it's the growing threat of al qaeda in africa, you know, instability in the middle east, iran. and so, the question becomes when is enough enough? it doesn't seem to be anything for the administration to say to pacify them. >> speaking of the administration, carrie, let's play what jay carney said on this issue just within the past hour. >> we have been enormously cooperative with congress on the issue of benghazi. hours and hours of testimony

including the secretary of state, tens of thousands of pages of documents, i believe. numerous hearings and working with members on their concerns as, you know, with regards to these nominations. but again, our nominees ought to be considered on qualifications. >> carrie, if it's effective strategy to threaten to hold up brennan here, how do the republicans allow it to pay off? what i'm saying is, again, back to chuck hagel, after the wrangling and the drama, he ends up confirmed. does the brennan situation end in the same way? >> i think that's the -- that's seeming to be what most people acknowledge on the hill, among republicans. that, you know, john brennan on the merits he seems to be, you know, on his way to confirmation. just a matter of when. and what republicans are able to get out of the administration before then. i mean, this is something that the hill often does. hold up nominations. put holds on judges and others trying to get the administration

-- >> but we saw with hagel was extraordinary, unprecedented. while we see the delays not to this degree, radiosfigt. >> well, no. you're exactly right. this is to a new level and something that democrats i think when the shoe's on the other foot, a republican president, this is setting a precedent to see democrats doing the same thing for a republican, to a republican president and his nominees and that's i think what folks are sort of warning about that the precedent has set is one that, you know, in the long term could be pretty damaging to the institution. >> carrie, it is the same senators, mccain, graham and ayotte and senator cruz may also delve in this. i think a 39% approval rating in the state which is good for him at this point or decent for him. >> i mean, exactly. this, again, this is something that, you know, members of congress do. again, like you said, doing it on a nominee is something more

unusual but, you know, in the view of lindsay graham and john mccain, they have serious questions, struggled to get information out of the administration to the extent they want it. of course, like chris says, that goal post may be moved several times but in their view they're exercising their right as members of congress. >> speaking of exercising rights, i want to read dianne feinstein's latest statement on the drone program and the questions that she and others have regarding that. she said i've reached an agreement with the white house to provide the committee access to all justice department office of legal counsel opinions related to the targeted killings of americans in a way that allows members to fulfill their overnight responsibilities so at least senator feinstein, chris, says regarding the drone program and some of these documents she is satisfied at this point but questions linger on. if you're a betting man and looking back, i'm sure you're expecting brennan to get more questions on enhanced

interrogations in the bush years and his role maybe than benghazi. >> well, you know, listen. it's fine i think for senators to have questions that they want answered. especially when you're talking about a security position and been involved in an array of, you know, serious issues and challenges that have faced the country so i think that's fine. where it becomes problematic is senator mccain and senator graham which is a litany of unanswered questions and no matter the answers or information provided it doesn't matter. there's not enough. >> and no matter who answers the question. >> right. >> this hasn't stopped at one person's door. >> right. and i think the question then becomes, what is the real end game here? i don't think this is about holding up brennan. the end of the day he will be confirmed, a week or two weeks or whatever it might be. this really is i think a shot across the bow in terms of president and how he conducts the foreign policy. i think that's the troubling part about it. i think senator mccain hasn't come to terms with the fact he's

not the president and the president as commander and chief has the role and responsibility and power to decide what the foreign policy is for the country. and senator mccain clearly has a different vision of this so this is the game they're playing. this is trying to box, you know, the president in. i just don't think it's a smart strategy and something to win over a lot of support amongst the american people. >> thank you. great pleasure having you both on. we have more breaking news out of washington where a massive winter storm could add to the turmoil. several high profile house votes and hearings could be affected. the approaching storm could delay a house vote on a republican plan to avert a government shutdown but a bipartisan deal on gun control legislation announced just yesterday is still so far on track to go before the senate judiciary committee. luke russert, i'm talking about a massive storm. mother nature and political. beautiful view of washington,

d.c. but later tonight in to tomorrow we very well may see a different picture coming out of d.c. >> reporter: that's right, tamron. you will see possibly the house representatives could be delayed because of the snowstorm and all depends on whether or not there's a federal government shutdown but that is not to be determined quiet. we don't know if it's going to be real snow, wintry mix and rather late here in march. sorry, early in march to be substantial. i'm not a meteorologist. >> we have a meteorologist coming up so don't worry. >> reporter: right. but the main issue of interest this week on capitol hill is there's real movement on the issue of guns and possible movements in gun control, specifically the idea of trying to get stiffer penalties for straw purchases. those are purchases made by somebody for somebody else. doesn't pass a background check. stuff is -- legislation is moved before the senate judiciary committee on that and possibly see it come up on thursday barring the fact that there could be snow. but if there's no snow, you would see a bipartisan vote out

of the senate judiciary committee from a bill that's sponsored by republicans and democrats. that would make it a federal crime for straw purchasers, charge the purchaser and the seller and our own casey hunt is reporting it could see the senate floor come april. we don't have an update on what happened with background checks. that's still sort of up in the air. senator coburn was working with senator manchin of west virginia and bipartisan action on that the idea of an assault weapons ban probably won't move forward on thursday but there's significant news with the straw buyers and something that police departments can't move on. they see it as a penalty, paper work penalty that doesn't necessarily get a lot of jail time and folks could face up to 25 years for an illegal straw purchase. perhaps a consensus to curtail gun crime. tamron? >> absolutely. the straw purchases in the news because following the tragedy in

newtown, for example, there was a shooting here in the new york city area firefighters were targeted and the neighbors police allege bought the guns. >> reporter: absolutely. and it's a significant issue that you routinely hear of when sheriffs and police officers come on capitol hill, something they talk about, and both parties can get behind. why? plays to the enforcing law that republicans like to talk about coming to gun issues and for democrats, they say it just obviously makes sense with giving an ability to really try and increase the penalties on folks using the weapons improperly. >> all right. luke, thank you so much for your time. greatly appreciate it. >> reporter: be well. more on the massive storm from the midwest headed east. these are live pictures from chicago. where more than 1,300 flights have already been canceled. the wet weather then expected to

march east and could bring power outages. we'll have the very latest. plus, the conservative website the daily color sticking by the report accusing new jersey senator bob menendez of hiring an escort despite a brand new "the washington post" piece and the woman identified said she was paid to lie. menendez said they're trying to smear him. one of the writers at the heart of this followed up with "the washington post" will join us. join the conversation on twitter. you can find us at @tamronhall and @newsnation. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. exciting and would always come max and pto my rescue. bookstore but as time passed, i started to notice max just wasn't himself.

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do we hano.a mower? a trimmer? no. we got nothing. we just bought our first house, we're on a budget. we're not ready for spring. well let's get you ready. very nice. you see these various colors. we got workshops every saturday. yes, maybe a little bit over here. this spring, take on more lawn for less. not bad for our first spring. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. get ready for spring with this ryobi 18-volt trimmer, just ninety- nine bucks.

new developments this hour in the scandal surrounding new jersey's senator bob menendez.

there are duelling reports of one of the escorts who claimed in a video that menendez paid her for sex in the dominican republic. according to "the washington post" that woman says she was paid in a plot to frame him and conservative website the daily caller originally posting the video of two escorts making allegations sticking by the story it posted november 1st and says "the washington post" -- they say they have the wrong woman. thank you for your time, carol. >> sure, tamron. >> okay. let me first get to the statement to nbc and the director of communication public affairs says "the washington post" falsely reported a story yesterday claiming our source had recanted her statement without contacting the daily caller for comment before posting, in reality, the prostitute in the post's story does not appear to be the one of the woman we interviewed in 2012. details by the prostitute

identified as miss santana conflict with the taped interviews the daily caller posted on november 1st and the mention of a person whose name would not come to light for months afterwards. that is a portion of their statement but you get the gist here. they're saying you have your facts wrong. carol, your response? >> oh, i'm sorry. i wasn't sure you were asking a question. so i think it does a disservice to the reporting if we have this as a feud between two entities. what everybody's trying to do is get to the bottom of were prostitutes hired by mr. menendez or by his wealthy friend and donor in the dominican republic and in trying to get to the bottom of that, we obtained records submitted in the dominican court, reported on the records, trying to figure out what did the women or in this case a woman and a man who paid her, what did they say in

their court affidavits about what happened? and what they have sworn to dominican authorities and police is that they were hoodwinked in to being part of this videotaped smear. and that she's never met menendez and she doesn't know who he is and paid to say sings aloud per a script. whether or not she was the woman who was interviewed by the "daily caller" i can't say. i can only say as we reported she went to a court saying she was part of the tape, lied to and duped and doesn't know the senator and did not have sex with him as she said aloud and that's all we can report. and -- >> isn't it relevant whether or not this individual is the same person "the daily caller" you pointed out the word feud. i don't know if you're directing that at "the daily caller" or us covering the story but the bottom line is whether or not this is the same individual that's in their video, "the

daily caller" contends they have the affidavit and wanted to see this and they're contending it is not the same person. that's their rebuttal to your report. >> yeah. well, our report doesn't -- i understand what you're saying and they're saying. it's just that we're reporting what a woman says and came forward to say in a sworn affidavit and backed up by a lawyer and paid her and said he said her and another woman to do this and he was hoodwinked by a third person, another dominican republic lawyer. we reported that. "the daily caller's" reporting, i can't attest to it or swear to it. i can only attest to what we reported. they have said i think that they don't believe this is the same person because the woman they interviewed said she was 24 and this woman is alleging she is 23. they say that's a difference. they also say that the woman they met gave them a different name than this woman's.

it's very possible it's a different person but we now know that someone is coming forward asking for court protection and help and saying that she was part of a tape and it was a lie. >> right. >> whether that's -- >> issued a statement in response to your report says there's obviously some people, some interest using right-wing blogs that have been perpetuating smears about me an i hope that the truth comes out because there's nothing but smears. tucker carlson tweeted out, "the washington post" might have saved itself the embarrassment if they bothered to call us before running their, quote, stupid piece. those are tucker carlson's words there. do you have any response to that assertion from him? >> of course. we posted a short version of the story when we learned about the affidavits, a short version around 5:00 and we realized we needed to reach out to several people, the lawyers that were named, the woman that was named. we reached out the all of them including tucker carlson who did

not respond to my e-mail or phone calls. but he did send a tweet at around midnight saying that the story was wrong. i would have loved to have included and the colleague would have also loved to have included his concerns about the identity of this woman and that's why we reached out the him. >> carol, thank you so much for your time. thanks a lot. >> of course. thank you, tamron. coming up -- >> my husband's bringing may drink right now. >> so's mine. >> so that was amazon's latest kindle ad getting a lot of buzz at a time when recent polling shows americans are growing more supportive of same-sex marriage but is this ad a good marketing move given the times we are in and the decision we're awaiting from the supreme court? plus, a big development in the tsa's ban list. you can't bring on bottled water through the security gate. but you can soon carry a knife. on board. we're going to tell you the

tsa's drawing the line. first, in today's money minute, the dow hit a record today breaking the previous record set in 2007. right now, the dow is up 142 points. [ man ] i've been out there most of my life. you name it...i've hooked it. but there's one... one that's always eluded me. thought i had it in the blizzard of '93. ha! never even came close. sometimes, i actually think it's mocking me. [ engine revs ] what?! quattro!!!!! ♪

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the president on friday agreed that there's no reason to get in to some debate about shutting down the government. >> joining me now live nbc news senior political editor mark murray bracing for the storm in washington, d.c. that apparently will affect some business on capitol hill. nevertheless, the polls show an interesting picture, mark, which we have been discussing. who will take the pain from what's happening? >> tamron, the surest way to have your poll numbers go down is get in a protracted budget battle here in washington, d.c. we certainly saw that to a very big degree in the debt ceiling standoff of 2011 and already as we pointed out in first read this morning, there were some signs of the radioactivity of the battle over the sequester hitting president obama and congressional republicans. kind of a pox on everyone's house. and you see why they decided to move on to other issues. essentially, wave the white flag. we'll fund the government. go on and see if you can maybe get a grand deal down the road. >> and the difference here as

far as percentage points, five points between the president and the congressional republicans on this. and when you look at the number of saying they're going to be affected, nearly half, 53%, mark, say that the sequester cuts will affect them directly. we have talked about people saying, you know, their neighbor might be affected or someone they know. this question is will sequester affect you, 53% said, yes. >> and tamron, our poll last week, our nbc/"wall street journal" poll showed that 52% said that the sequester is a bad deal and not a good thing for them and one of the most important things about the debate is we don't know how it plays out. many of the cuts won't take effect for another month, if not even longer than that and the big effects to be determined and make it is politics dicey because it's hard to look in the crystal ball and see who will benefit and who loses here. >> let's play what governor chris christie said regarding

things done. he said we need to fix it. >> it seems to me it's pretty easy to fix. real leadership would get this fixed. get everybody in the room and you fix it. >> so he was critical of the president saying the president did not put out ideas on entitlement reform. that's been labeled an untruth because the president has. but he tried to spread the wealth but is it as simple as chris christie who's in new jersey and certainly's been getting a lot of praise in the state and nationally to say just fix it? is he speaking the truth or speaking from afar? >> he is speaking out and something he's done where he's putting the voice to something he believes in. but tamron, as you just mentioned, it's a lot easier to do the things in new jersey than the u.s. capitol here in washington, d.c. the senate legislation got 51 votes last week but it was filibustered by republicans. you don't have that similar type of dynamic in new jersey and just the way this federal government is set up with its

checks and balances is much different than trying to get things done in new jersey. >> all right. it's proven to be true. thank you very much, mark. great pleasure having you on. coming up, the massive winter storm pounding chicago. the storm is expected to move east later tonight in to tomorrow. and already meteorologists are warning this wet, heavy snow could bring power outages to thousands of people. plus, conservatives already waging a battle over the president's new pick to head the epa. one conservative group is comparing mccarthy to the castro brothers and accuses the president of putting his, quote, extreme partisan agenda ahead of jobs. we'll get the latest. who sent it to cindy, who wondered why her soup wasn't quite the same. the recipe's not the recipe... ohhh. [ female announcer ] ...without swanson. the broth cooks trust most when making soup. mmmm! [ female announcer ] the secret is swanson.

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with just over two weeks before spring, another major storm is slamming in to the midwest and right now dropping an inch of snow an hour in chicago. the storm has already caused more than 1,400 flight

cancelations and today the system will then move east where snow and strong winds are expected to cause massive power outages north carolina to baltimore. weather's blamed for causing at least one death in wisconsin. unbelievable. a semitruck driver lost control on a snow-covered road. the driver died. crews are looking for the passenger. nbc's jay gray live in chicago for us, jay. we can see plenty of snow falling behind you and just the beginning. >> reporter: yeah, tamron. here we go again. that's what a lot of people across the midwest are saying right now. we have had steady snow for several hours, blowing sideways at times just like it is right now. only expected to intensify moving in to the evening. thicker, heavier, more wet snow falling and as you talked about could be a problem for some of the power lines so crews poised and ready to move in if that should be the case. the roads are moving, clean and clear but that's likely to change as we move in to the

evening rush hour. the airports like you talked about just a real mess right now. more than 1,400 flights canceled. hundreds more delayed and that's something as the accumulation total grows, so will the number of flights will be affected. schools out here today f. there's a good sign to this, it's the fact kids are getting a play day. first snow day of the year here and just two weeks away from spring so that's kind of interesting. also, for farmers in the midwest, they see this snow as a blessing. the melt off really providing them with some hope for coming crops after what's been a very difficult drought season so if you look at the good side of this snow, that's about it. the bad side is, it's going to be a mess for the next several days. >> jay, another portion of the bad here is some of these coastal areas and areas hit by hurricane sandy will also be impacted. i was talking with a colleague living in jersey. their power company already also called them saying brace for

possible flooding and power outages as you mentioned. >> reporter: yeah. and the poor folks in that area where sandy was affected and we were there, it's been a situation where they just can't get ever get a leg up on things. each time they begin to make progress, another one of these winter storms moves through and just batters that area. so it's making it difficult to progress. not only with the cleanup of sandy but then having to pile more snow and ice on top of all of that. it is just a terrible go. as you talk about, if things go the way they're forecast, that area again will see more snow by the weekend. >> all right. jay gray, thank you very much. i'm sure we'll speak with you. thank you. a day after president obama announced the nominee to be the new head of the epa, jenna mccarthy is targeted by some conservative groups to derail the nomination. the american energy alliance is comparing her and former epa headley is a jackson to cuba's castro brothers saying the epa will look as different under

gina mccarthy as cuba looked when uncle fidel passed the hammer and sickle to his little brother raul. thank you so much for joining me, darren. >> thank you. >> it's interesting because as you point out in the article, mccarthy brings bipartisan credentials to the job encolluding as the regulator under then massachusetts governor mitt romney. but like chuck hagel, you can have an affiliation with republicans and doesn't mean that conservatives will not still come after you. what's at the heart of these issues here? >> well, i mean, i don't think she's another chuck hagel. >> no. >> i don't think the white house has to work that much. over time for this. i think she is going to be fine. i think that at the heart of that is, even if you talk to those in the regulated community, even those that may not like what epa does, they like her. they like the fact that she'll talk with them. she'll discuss problems. she'll even address them to a certain extent in the rule

making. so they like her. and you know, i know you mentioned some views from some -- i mean, epa's always going to be a lightning rod. they're involved in so many major rule makings, involved in the climate change effort. they're always to have their krit critics and gina mccarthy hear a lot of -- a lot of that. >> i don't want to enflame anything that's not there but you point out that veteran industry lobbyist points out that he has worked with her in the past and while they disagree with the final rules, they found her to be someone open and engagement and regulated community. you have john mcmam nis a critic of the epa and had a mixed reaction but on the first page you point out two organizations, conservatives. not every day someone is compared to the castro brothers and fwfr compliments regarding her and then the article points

out that at least representative shelly moore of west virginia says that it's shameful the president puts the extreme partisan agenda ahead of jobs, so were you grabbing for the headline? tell me what's going on here. i don't think she's a chuck hagel but page two of the article -- it's insulting language. >> fair enough. absolutely. again, epa is a lightning rod. you know? they're going to have the kind of critics. it's very emotional issue, frankly. these major rule makings hit people's messaging really hard and epa is obviously been a messaging point for a lot of republicans. it was a point on the campaign trail. still is. gina mccarthy was in the middle of a lot of major rules and the first term. she'll continue to be in the middle of a lot of major rules in the second term. absolutely. i guess my only point is that you're going to have those that

are going to use this as a way in which to hit epa hard, to hit her hard because they don't like what the agency is doing. >> lisa jackson, when she left worked very hard and beat down in many ways by the battle and the cloud that hangs over the epa from conservatives. >> you know, i was talking to jim inhoff, a conservative from oklahoma in the senate and about as right as you can get on environmental issues. he likedly is a jackson. liked her personally. he said she was always honest and they became good friends and had a conversation with gina yesterday, mccarthy, and said, you know what? i like her, too. i'm okay with her nomination. i'm not going to agree with them on policy but if they're honest with me, i'm going to be honest with them and i'm going to support them so i think it's because of that type of view you will see more of a mod ratding view amongst senators and even those that may not like the policies. if they like the person, i think

they'll say, well, she is okay. >> sure. >> we'll try to work with her. >> thank you so much for joining us. coming up, reaction to the upgraded charges against ten former wamu band members accused in the 2011 hazing death of a drum major. they're now charged with manslaughter. one of the defendant's attorneys called the move a scare tactic to encourage a plea bargain. the latest -- the new reaction from the parents of the drum major killed. first, there's a lot going on today and here's one thing we thought you should know. former president h.w. bush is defending his son's presidency. bush 41 says he had a pained reaction to criticism of his son's performance as president and calls his son's critics nas sy. bush 41 writes, quote, i'm just an angry old man hurting for my son. and that is just one thing we thought you should know. [ male announcer ] it's red lobster's lobsterfest

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12 former members of the florida a&m marching band now face severe new charges for the hazing death of a drum major. he was beaten during what police called a hazing ritual in 2011. if convicted, all of the suspects could get up to 15 years in prison. nbc's mark potter is live in miami. so mark, these upgraded charges, at least according to one report, may be an attempt to get a plea deal or something in the works there. what can you tell us? >> reporter: that's what the defense attorneys are saying. what's clear is that these new charges are much more serious than the previous ones. last may and may of 212. ten members accused of felony hazing in the death of robert champion. if convicted, that could lead to a maximum five-year prison term. as you said, these new charges,

though, of manslaughter could lead to a 15-year prison term and much, much more serious. news conference today, champion's mother pamela champion said she applauded the efforts of the state attorney general's office to raise the charges and approved of that and in atlanta today she spent sometime talking about her son. let's listen to what she had to say. >> you had to know the kind of person robert was. he was a people person. he was a caregiver and a protector because that was his demeanor. so those things i miss most of all. is him being sensitive and knowing when i needed someone to just kind of talk to or vice versa. >> reporter: now, speaking of those earlier charges, pamela champion said, quote, hazing does not depict what was done to my son. she favors the new charges of manslaughter. authorities say that champion died from a beating after a football game in orlando.

they described it as a hazing ritual. since then the president of the school and band director has gone. the family filed a civil suit and officials at the school now say that they're working to end the culture of hazing there. tamron? >> and mark, the famu statement, they say the university has no comment at this time. which is pretty much the comment maintained from the beginning of all of this. thank you for the latest details. greatly appreciate it. >> reporter: thank you. critics calling it a dangerous decision. the tsa just today in the last couple of hours, in fact, announced passengers will be allowed to carry certain types of knives on planes in the u.s. nbc's pete williams joins me live in washington. so obviously, pete, you know people will say you have to take your shoes off and 4 ounces and you can put a knife i guess in the carry-on. what can you tell us? >> reporter: right. it's all an attempt by the tsa to get to the real threat and

not sharp objects but explosives. even though the 9/11 hijackers brought down planes with the box cutters, many things changed. hardened cockpit doors, the tsa wants to concentrate on where the trouble is. in a statement today, the tsa says it's part of an overall risk-based security approach to allow transportation security officers to better focus their efforts on finding higher threat items like explosives. tamron, this is what it's aimed at. this will all start next month. it's aimed at knives like this. you will be able too carry them on if the blade folds. doesn't lock in to place and not too long. here are the specific details. knives can be carried on if their blade is no more than about 2.3 inches long and less than half an inch wide. 2.3 inches. where does that come from? to conform to an international standard allowing planes on knives if they're no longer than 6 centers and what 2.36 inches

is and then the blade less than half an inch wide. so you still can't take on a box cutter or the knives that have locking handles, even if they fold. they can lock in place and then the knives that have molded handles to make it easier to hold on to. some additional things to carry on the plane now. wiffle ball bats, souvenir baseball bats, ski poles, hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks and two golf clubs. again, a list conforming to the international standard. all except small souvenir bats, you don't see a lot of those on international flights because there's not a lot of baseball elsewhere and tsa says the screeners confiscate a huge number of those because of passengers flying to games and not realizing they can't carry them and an important note. goes in to effect next month, april 25th. >> okay. i'll be sure to carry my wiffle ball bat after that day. >> an your lacrosse stick. >> i have one handy.

thank you very much, pete. thank you. coming up, the "gut check." have you seen amazon's surprising new ad for the kin e kindle? we'll play you the ad and we're asking, do you think it's a smart marketing move? and be sure to like "the news nation" on facebook. facebook.com/newsnation. we know a place where tossing and turning have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta®(eszopiclone) can help you get there. like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. lunesta should not be taken together with alcohol. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations, or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions such as tongue or throat swelling

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you can join the "news nation" on twitter @newsnation. open 24/7 for your comments. and time now for the "news nation" "gut check." brand new commercial shows that some businesses are changing right along with consumers. amazon.com is airing a new kindle ad with a 30-second spot takes an unexpected turn. take a look.

>> i just bought a kindle paperweight. we should celebrate. >> my husband's bringing may drink right now. >> so's mine. >> so, more than 6,000 people have watched that clip online. sparking, of course, positive/negative reaction. you get that with anything. joining me now matthew breen. what was your reaction? >> well, i love the commercial. i think it's adorable. i first saw it on a plane and dying to e-mail the staff and saying we have to write about the fantastic commercial. two things strike me about this ad. the first off is that advertisers are really seeing lgbts as a viable market. studying in 2012 looked at the market segment we represent and we're worth about $790 billion so i think this is a smart move for amazon kindle. >> but we know that there's been some backlash. for example, when ellen

degeneres became the spokesperson of jcpenney a conservative group said they wouldn't shop there and the same group as i believe targeted the ad, as well. amazon founder jeff bezos donated $2.5 million to marriage equality in washington. this is not an unfamiliar territory. >> right. the other thing that strikes me about this ad and about this trend is that advertisers are seeing this sort of lgbt friendly advertising as really good business. not only counter act the potential boycotts by signaling to a lot of our straight allies and to lgbt customers that these companies are looking to inclusiveness. and it's really, of course, it's bad optics for amazon, for example, to say that it's progressive in terms of technology but regressive in terms of equality so i think this is a win-win for amazon. >> others who have jumped in to

this, pride ad showing a rainbow oreo ad and rayban, never hide ad showing two men holding hands. people looking. but this ad with amazon uses humor, perhaps a daily encounter that people may have. suddenly you have a friend or an acquaintance saying this is my husband or this is my wife. something that we will be experiencing more and more. do you think that this somehow takes it to the next level here? >> i really think it does. i think, of course, we're talking about advertising so we're talking about moves that are good for business. we'd like to think this is entirely altruistic but there's a business perspective behind this. something that struck me, as well, 278 companies and city governments signed the amicus brief to the supreme court and their argument is that the defensive marriage act is bad for business.

it's bad for employer/employee relationships and seeing companies coming around to the idea being as inclusive as possible is just smart business. >> yeah. you know, back to the 1 million moms angry over ellen and obviously not stopped her success at all, they said at the time, jcp has made their choice to offend a huge majority of their customers. again, christians must now vote with their wallets. words like that at this point, when you look at pew research poll showing 48% in favor as opposed to 2001 when 35% were in favor to gay marriage here. we're asking people, is this a sign of the times? it is a smart move. i imagine you say that's a no-brainer. >> smart move. it is a sign of the times, absolutely. there's a tide in this country moving toward the equality, toward the notion that we're all equal and deserve the same human rights so those million moms, not quite a million of them.

i think 40,000. >> you're correct. >> they're going to be on the wrong side of this. >> smau so much. greatly appreciate you coming on with us for this commercial out there. >> my pleasure. >> you have seen the commercial. is this commercial, this ad, a smart marketing move by amazon given the current politics so you shoulding gay marriage? go to facebook.com/newsnation to cast that vote. can't wait to see what you say tomorrow. that does it for this edition of "news nation." thank you for hanging with us. i'll see you tomorrow. [ male announcer ] i've seen incredible things. otherworldly things. but there are some things i've never seen before. this ge jet engine can understand 5,000 data samples per second. which is good for business. because planes use less fuel, spend less time on the ground and more time in the air.

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